If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. Register yourself as a member of Eyes on Final Fantasy in order to post, have less ads, be able to read more thread replies per page, and much much more. Click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

I think the battle system is very addictive.
However, it works the best during the first half of the game, since at that point the enemies actually cooperate and throw just the right status ailments to let you level up the HEAL spell.
This is particularly noticeable in Kashuon, where enemies throw Poison and Dark all the time, allowing you to quickly boost HEAL without cheating.
But later in the game the enemies suddenly start throwing all kinds of ridiculous nonsense that you haven't had much of a legit chance to prepare for.

But most of the time, the battle system in general is pretty cool.
There is a very special sense of satisfaction in powering through a cave until you are worn out, then go and rest and notice that your HP, MP and several Stats are suddenly much higher than the last time.
Then you plow through the cave again and feel a lot stronger this time, etc.

Oh, and also, the early parts of the game actually give you several great incentives to naturally level up the elemental black magic.
I like to start off with Ice, then use that in battles until it reaches LV2 which is very useful against Land Turtle.
Then after that I start leveling Fire, which is very handy in Ice Cave, and after that I focus on Bolt a bit, since that's quite useful against the water enemies.
And after that I level up Aero for a while, since that thing is extremely useful against the annoying Stalactites on Deist.
This gives me all the 4 basic attack spells at LV2, which is surprisingly useful at that point.

As for the white magic, I just use Cure and Life whenever I need them, and I also throw Safe, Shell and Blink in every single random encounter on the world map just to build them up (basically, if my healer has nothing to do then I will have him/her throw one of those spells on someone).
I always make a point of walking on foot to every destination in the whole game (I never pay for the boat or airship rides), so I have a lot of time to build up spells on the world map even though I never use the leveling bug.

What I liked was to be able to "explore" the map further, and globally the freedom feeling (including the leveling system). Besides the whole quest is about seeking some clues to advance (like any RPG will you tell me): I remember to have been stuck more than one time
Except this, it remains a classical game at all (in my opinion).

I mean, no one hates Minwu that I know of, they just don't know him. But they tend to hate the game in general, and he's the one part of it I really liked unequivocally.

My friend Delzethin is currently running a GoFundMe account to pay for some extended medical troubles he's had. He's had chronic issues and lifetime troubles that have really crippled his career opportunities, and he's trying to get enough funding to get back to a stable medical situation. If you like his content, please support his GoFundMe, or even just contribute to his Patreon.

He can really use a hand with this, and any support you can offer is appreciated.

What I liked was to be able to "explore" the map further, and globally the freedom feeling (including the leveling system). Besides the whole quest is about seeking some clues to advance (like any RPG will you tell me): I remember to have been stuck more than one time
Except this, it remains a classical game at all (in my opinion).

First time I played this game I kept wandering off into the Mysidia and Warship regions, and I was like "what? are you kidding me?" and gave up. xD
Then after getting some experience with old-school RPGs I learned that I was not necessarily supposed to wander around everywhere just because I could.

Spending the time to run into Pink Puffs in the hopes of getting the pink tail. My brother tried it also but after a few hours of running around and no luck, he said: fuc^$$%^&*^k this and threw the controller at the heater. This reply reminds me of a somewhat embarrassing story I have to tell in the appropriate section.

basically without FFII, there would have never been a SaGa franchise. Akitoshi Kawazu, the lead game designer, owned the heck out of the non-leveling character growth system, and expanded and improved upon it by means of incorporating it into the SaGa franchise. So while a lot of the battle mechanics for FFII are kinda broken and could have been implemented better, they're a first glimpse of Akitoshi Kawazu's true brilliance and his willingness to experiment with strange and unheard of concepts.

That man may not be a legend like Hironobu Sakaguchi and the like, but he's pretty freakin awesome, just saying.

What really makes the leveling system great to me is that even when you are just walking your party from point A to point B it really makes you pay attention to what attacks or magic you use so you are constantly leveling up the right away, as opposed to most other RPGs where you just mash attack to get through all those travel-interrupting battles.